The Sins of Vanity
by Kyo and Sinclair
Summary: Severus has a secret that even he doesn't know about.What is Dumbledore hiding?What's up with Malfoy?And what does James have to do with any of this? DXOC RXHr HX? THIS IS NOT UBER RELIGIOUS!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: as much as I hate to admit it, I do not and never will own J.K. Rowling's work, so screw off. :P

X(Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry)

Severus Snape was having an unusually nice day. School had let out for the summer two weeks before, so it was unusually peaceful in the halls. This gave him ample time to brew potions or read or any other activity that suited his interests. All of that mornings projects had come out perfectly, and Poppy's list of potions she would need next year had officially been finished. Even better, Voldemort was lying low for a while, and wouldn't likely be calling any surprise Death Eater meetings any time soon. Severus had actually managed to finish reading the rather large novel that Albus have given him before summer, All That Lives, a Muggle story from a child's point of view of a rather nasty haunting.

Severus sighed, placing the book down on his desk. "And to think." he murmured, a rare smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "All this before dinner."

He stood and made his way into the halls, taking his time to look at all of the paintings, and even carry on a few conversations.

"What puts you in such a good mood, Professor?" asked a chestnut centaur as he followed Severus from painting to painting down the hallway. As odd as it was, he had been fond of the painting since his first year in Hogwarts, more than twenty years ago. Now that he lived in the enormous castle, he made sure to keep a supply of landscape paintings throughout his rooms to allow the centaur to run through as he liked.

"Just having a good day." he commented. Not more than ten seconds later, he fell to the ground in a dead faint.

X( 4 Privet Drive, Surrey)

Harry sat up, blinking blearily around his cupboard. It took him a moment to figure out where he was, but once he did, he wished he was still asleep. He was pretty sure that whatever his nightmare was, it had to be better than his reality. He was, and had been, locked up inside the cramped little room for a week. The only time he left was to work outside or use the bathroom. Harry felt like he was having a ten year old relapse.

He sat up straight, promptly smacking his head on the ceiling. "Ow!" Okay, maybe not. He had been smaller when he was ten. Five years and as many inches did that to a person. As he rubbed his abused scalp, a noise like thunder rocked his 'room'. He quickly dropped to the floor, covering his eyes as the steps above his head shook and dust fell around him. He was sure that one of these days Dudley's fat arse was going to bust through them, likely dropping him right on top of his head. As hilarious as Dudley Dursely breaking the stairs would be, the thought of shattering each and every bone in his body wasn't quite so entertaining.

Mere moments after the cost was clear, a loud rapping on the door assaulted his eardrums. "Get up!" shrieked Petunia, as if the padlocks on wooden door would somehow make it sound-poof. But no, Harry wasn't that lucky. "You lazy little arse, I want you awake **_this minute_**!"

"I am awake, aunt Petunia." he said, maneuvering his body to face the door in case she opened it.

She threw it open and ensnared her hands in his shaggy hair, dragging him out into the hall. "Company will be coming over tonight." she hissed, shaking his head from side to side, making it rather hard for him to understand her. "I want you to stay completely silent or you wont be eating tomorrow! Do you understand, you little freak!"

"Sure aunt Petunia." he said dully. Harry hadn't eaten in three days, and had only drunken a few sips of water from the sink when he had been let out to use the bathroom. He had once read that a person could survive a week without food, but only a few days without water. He hadn't been paying much attention to the text, but he was certain that it had neglected to mention the gnawing pain that appeared after only a fraction of the time. "I wont make any noise and wont move around. You wont even know that I exist."

A cruel smirk worthy of Malfoy curved around his Muggle aunt's lips. "Good." she sneered, giving him one last shake before shoving his malnourished, week body to the ground. "Now go use the bathroom. I wont have you making the house any filthier than you already have."

Harry nodded, trudging into the lavatory. He did his business, before hurrying back to his cupboard, and listening miserably as she padlocked his door and went to the kitchen. Harry needed to get out of here, and soon. It was seeming more and more likely that someone would soon come for him. Vernon was forcing him to write letters to everybody, making everything seem okay. But Harry had figured out a way to get around that. All he had to do was wait until someone, preferably Sirius wrote. He would make up a false memory, something obvious to him, but not to Vernon. Sirius, being the suspicious, overprotective godfather that he was would likely demand that someone come check on him, and he'd be out. Hell, with the time he had been here, Harry would likely be able to hide a message inside one of the letters pretty soon. Something Hermione would get.

The-Boy-Who-Lived crawled under his thin blanket, shivering as the AC directly outside filtered his 'room' with cold air. 'Soon…' he thought, slipping his useless glasses off in the dark. 'I'll be back at Hogwarts and everything will be okay…….'

X

Tada! Chapter one is up, and totally and disgustingly short. Complain all you want, but if I have too make them a decent length I'll just get bored and you'll never see more. Also, If you wanna see Severus okay(or in pain, whatever's your preference), you'd better review!


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.**_

_**WPB: Hello hello, and welcome to chapter two of Abandoned Kitten. Please forgive me, but I simply couldn't think of a more……..elegant way to fraise the title. But never fear, it will make sense eventually. Also, I'm sorry to have wasted you're time, but I forgot to mention in the first chapter. There will be shonen-ai in this story. It wont be a main theme, but wont be easily ignored. Sorry, but deal with it. Now, on to the fic.**_

X

Dumbledore reclined easily back in his chair, the exact picture of relaxation. Two weeks into summer and not a single move from Voldemort. The wards on 4 privet drive had been reactivated(too much magic was required to keep them up year-round) and he would be expecting a lengthy letter from Molly any day now, likely concerning his eating habits.

As he was lifting his cup of cocoa to his lips, a great shouting match seemed to fill every corner of the room. He looked up, startled, seeing all of the portraits around the room fill with numerous figures, not a one having ever taught in the school.

"Headmaster! Come quick!" shrieked a ½ banshee, half witch.

"It's terrible!" sobbed a woman as her baby cried loudly.

"Never thought it could happen!" exclaimed one he didn't catch sight of. Soon it became nearly impossible to distinguish a single character in the frames.

"Oh hurry!"

"How could this have- -!"

"Just fell straight to the- -!"

"Oh poor Severus!"

At the sound of his potions master's name, Dumbledore quickly cast a Sonorous on his throat, and roared "QUIET! ALL OF YOU! NOW!"

Needless to say they all shut the hell up at his positively livid expression. Once certain that he had their attention, he relaxed a bit, removing the spell. "Now." he said calmly as you please. "What's this about Severus?"

X

**_'Sir? Sir, can you hear me? I'm not sure if this worked but I'll go ahead. I'm not sure if you know me, and I'm certain I don't know you, but my name is……'_**

****Severus Snape groaned as he attempted to sit up, only to be pushed back down by a pair of strong hands. Squinting his eyes against the unnecessarily bright light, he peered up at the hazy, wrinkled face of Hogwarts' Headmaster. "Albus?" he croaked from a dry, itchy throat. "Forgive me the overdone line, but where am I?"

Albus smiled down at him. "Where do you normally find yourself unconscious, Severus?"

The potions master groaned, clenching a fist in irritation. "The Hospital Wing." he groused, turning to the left where he knew the med witch would be hovering. "Good evening, Poppy. How has your day been?"

She huffed, putting her hands on her rather wide hips. "You've a lot of nerve asking that! I was just sitting in my rooms, reflecting on how nice it was to be able to catch up on my reading, when I'm assaulted by nearly every painting in the whole darned castle at once! Thought you'd leapt from the astronomy tower the way that they all carried on!"

Severus smirked slightly. The paintings really had taken an odd liking to him over the years. He turned his head to Albus, ignoring the incessant twinkle in his eyes. "Does anyone want to tell me why I'm here per chance?" he asked, voice dripping with false sweetness.

The man nodded, conjuring up pair of chairs, which he and the healer quickly settled into. "I have my suspicions, but I dare say, Poppy, have you come up with anything?"

She nodded, pulling out a roll of parchment from nowhere, scanning it briefly with her eyes, before turning the mild chocolate orbs on his pale face. "Well Severus, you're not sick. It would appear to be some sort of spell that did this."

"That is impossible." he drawled. "We are the only ones in the castle tonight capable of magic, and there are barriers around the grounds to deflect curses."

Poppy gave him a dirty look. "I would appreciate you're not interrupting me, Severus. Now, as I was saying, someone did in fact cast a spell on you. But not the normal kind. It was apparently a seeker spell. A **_blood _**spell."

(A/N: I should end it here. I really should. Am I that mean?…………..Yes, but I'm also into self-preservation. Let's continue this, shall we?)

Severus Snape 's obsidian eyes narrowed dangerously. "Again. Impossible. Only a direct relative could get through the wards. Direct being no farther away then a brother, sister, mother, father, or child. Even an aunt an uncle are too weak."

"Well do you have any direct family?"

"No."

"None at all?"

"No."

"Are you- -?"

"Merlin, Poppy! Trust me, I would know if I had any of any of those! You're spell was wrong, try it again!"

"Humph! I'll have you know, Severus, that my magic is never wrong about this sort of thing!"

"Albus, would yo kindly explain to this **_woman _**that I most certainly…."the words died on his lips as he looked at the headmaster. Severus knew that Albus was ancient, well over one hundred, but he rarely thought of the man as old. But that's exactly what he looked like. The twinkle in his eye had diminished, and his silver hair was looking quite grey. "….Albus? What's wrong?"

The man sighed, hunching forward a bit and placing his head in his hands. "Oh dear. I had rather hoped that this would never happen."

Severus' brows rose in realization. "Albus," he hissed. "What did you do?"

He turned his pale blue eyes on him. "I'm sorry, Severus."

Severus forced himself into a sitting position. "Albus. **_What _**did you **_do_**?"

"Calm down Severus." he leaned back, exhaling hard. "You see, there is…….a secret. Something I swore never to tell you, or anyone for that matter. Nearly sixteen years ago, something…..happened. Something that no one was prepared for. Certainly least of all you."

"Yes……….and?" he growled, clutching the sheets with white knuckles. Damned Albus! Once again hiding things! What the fuck was it this time! Was he not truly a Snape at all? "What was hidden from me?"

"You must understand, Severus. It was a horrible time for it to happen. Only a few people knew at all- -"

"Albus!" he shouted, patience snapping. "Stop bloody beating around the bush and tell me what it is you have done!"

"Very well. I suppose there is only one way to be blunt about this." He looked up at the ceiling, taking a few steadying breathes, before looking the angry Potions Master straight in the eye. "Severus, you have a son."

X

White Phoenix Bandit: Ew. Blunt much? Please review, or else Snape is liable to have an aneurism.


End file.
